


World of the Unbound

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: Unbound World [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons - Fandom, Magic: The Gathering, Multi-User Dungeon Games, Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-15
Updated: 2007-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-06 18:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>World-building notes about a bizarre fusion world within the Elkandu Universe that I didn't wind up doing much with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Timeline

1 - The world is created. The Seven, powerful mages which are the founders of the Clans, are created. Their names are Venari (Fire), Telana (Void), Korata (Spirit), Astakal (Earth), Glemarn (Water), Handene (Air), and Mevrasi (Mind). Each of them is extremely powerful in one type of magic, as well as possessing a number of secondary traits.

1000 - The Clan system slowly becomes more endogamous and intent upon blood purity and inbreeding. Though succeeding generations, this results in Clan talents becoming much more common within a particular Clan and much less common outside of that Clan.

2000 - The Clans have become further subdivided into numerous families, each with their own distinctive traits. Although not all marriages are kept within a particular family, they tend to prefer breeding with those families which have similar abilities and traits, in order to keep their bloodline pure.

3000 - The Clan system slowly begins to break down as some Clans prefer breeding with similar families in different Clans rather than slightly different families within their own Clan. People become more and more divided by how they use their powers rather than what their powers are.

4000 - By this point, the Clan system has completely broken down, and the boundaries that once existed between the different Clans are almost non-existent in most cases. Instead, communities have built up around the different methods to use magic, regardless of the type of magic a person has. The new groups are called Guilds, and among them include the Alchemists, Wizards, Spellsingers, Druids, Dancers, Berserkers, and many more. Although they are no longer so strict about which talents a person might have, nor are people a member of a Guild at birth, they still require a person to possess that Guild's trait to become a member.

5000 - The Guilds have been further dividing themselves into sects based off specific combinations of traits. While some seem to be further restricting themselves and their offspring, however, the Guild of the Unbound, those who possess no magical restrictions, have been slowly rising in prominence in an attempt to throw off the shackles of magical disorders and limitations. Some of them are fanatics and consider themselves the master race, even though many of them possess recessive restrictive traits which their children frequently inherit. However, through selective breeding, even as the Guilds attempt to cement themselves as separate races, the Unbound attempt to create a race free from those limitations.

6000 - Tension between the Guilds has erupted into all-out war. The Unbound seek to eliminate all other Guilds in hopes of purifying their own bloodlines. The other Guilds seek to destroy the Unbound mainly out of self-defense. Some of the Guilds have banded together for protection, while others squabble amongst themselves in their own petty disagreements. Alliances rise and fall. Some Guilds end up almost completely wiped out, although there still may be born people with those traits who carried them unknowingly for many generations to come. The Unbound are powerful, and use the Guilds' weaknesses to their advantage.

7000 - After a long and bloody war, the Unbound have emerged victorious. In their cruel, iron rule of the world, they slaughter all those left who they can find who exhibit magical restrictions and limitations. Those with them are still being born occasionally to Unbound parents, however the tyrannical government deals with this by destroying both the children and the parents when they discover this. In this way, they hope once and for all to exterminate all traces of the "taint" from the world.

7100 - Some of the Bound go deep into hiding because of the campaigns waged against them, and parents conceal their own children's limitations for fear of being hunted themselves. Small rebellions are fomented against the totalitarian regime of the Unbound, but most of them are suppressed. Some fearful parents begin to slay their own children at the first sign of any magical restriction in hopes of sparing their own lives.

8000 - As the vast majority of the Bound has been eliminated, the power-mad Unbound are beginning to hunt other beings whose magic they believe is holding them back. Vampires, shapeshifters, and others have found themselves targets, when they had once assisted the Unbound in their genocidal madness. Angry protests, revolts, and rebellions ensue. For the first time in history, vampires and werewolves join forces against the tyrannical Unbound.

8100 - A bloody war erupts, and the Unbound, used to using their enemies' weaknesses against them, manage to destroy many of the vampires, shapeshifters, and fae who are vulnerable to sunlight, silver, and iron, respectively. However, it was not merely those which they were fighting against, and in spite of their back-pedaling insistence that those without those restrictions need not be slain, the war continues.

9000 - There is a lull of peace for a time, in the eye of the storm, as the vampires and their allies have emerged victorious over the reigning cabal of the Unbound. Their numbers were depleted during the war, and many of the older vampires and were-dragons, who were naturally immortal, had been slain in the fighting, but the younger ones had emerged all the stronger for it, since now children born with extreme sensitivity to sunlight or metals were very rare. Without having that weakness to exploit, the Unbound hadn't known what to do, and they were crushed and sent scattering into hiding themselves.

9100 - People relax under the more peaceful regimes, even though in the wake of the war, the temporary alliance began to buckle as they could not be certain who would rule in the place of the Unbound. In the end, however, a strong figure came to the forefront, a daughter born of all of the surviving families of the alliance. Her name was Ilathan Pax, taking on the surname of an ancient family of peaceful healers which had been wiped out in the Great Purge rather than that of any of her immediate ancestors, that she may appear neutral.

9200 - Without the genocidal madness of the Unbound, the rare few people born with magical restrictions are allowed to live, although out of long, deep-set paranoia, they still attempt to conceal these limitations wherever they can out of fear that the Unbound will rise again from the shadows to consume them. But they day they fear does not come, and for a time, there is peace. In seeing that the world is finally safe for them to emerge, long-hidden enclaves of the survivors of the former Guilds come out of hiding and re-enter society at large. However, society isn't sure what to make of them, and seeing their strange ways and bizarre attitudes, some of them begin to whisper that perhaps the Unbound were right after all.

9300 - Although there have been tensions between the Unbound majority and the Bound minority, Bound children are still occasionally being born to Unbound parents, who find their own welcome within the Guild remnants, which greatly welcome the extension of their own gene pool as long millennia of inbreeding had brought out a number of magical disorders such as the Burnout Disorder and being unable to control their powers. In the wake of war and oppression, the population of the Bound slowly begins to grow once again.

9400 - The remnants of the Unbound cabal, now calling themselves the Pure, are hidden deep within a remote valley high in the mountains, observing the world remotely and realizing that they can never hope to eliminate the "taint" of magical restrictions from the world at large. Instead, they look only to themselves, and implement a strict breeding program, as before killing any child and their family who exhibits signs of "taint". The resulting Pure Ones become heavily inbred, however, and themselves begin to exhibit magical disorders such as Magical Madness and magic tied in to their emotions, ones which had already been common amongst the Unbound as they were not eliminated for being a magical restriction.

10000 - The enclave of the Pure is discovered by chance by a group of mages, and brought to the attention of the government of the world. A debate arises as to what to do with them, as many favor destroying them at last for their crimes in the past, while others hold that enough bloodshed has occurred and the children should be held blameless for the crimes of their ancestors. Debate rages on, and while some call for peace, a group of mages heads into the valley in secret to eliminate the Pure once and for all. In a panic, the mad Pure Ones cast a powerful spell that drastically shifts the weather all over the planet, shattering the ecosystem and bringing about an ice age. The Pure Ones are slaughtered and scattered in retribution, and in the wake of the sudden cold snap, many mages work to reverse the effects of the spell. Others, however, believe it is hopeless and that this is the end of the world, and build a massive Sky Ark to evacuate all who they could to another world where they might be safe.


	2. Clans

There are seven clans, and dozens of families within each particular clan. Clans are traditionally endogamous, but that practice is not always strictly followed, and not every individual belongs to a clan. Dominant genes tend to show up primarily in their clan of origin - only those with descent from multiple clans will have multiple dominant magical types. Certain recessive genes are much more common in specific families, some of which specifically breed for that particular gene in order to remain "pure blooded".

* * *

**Venari**

Venari's clan talent is Fire Magic, the manipulation of plasma, electricity, and energy. Recessive traits involving anger and emotions show up more commonly among Venari than among other clans.

Brigg - Berserkers. Traits: Anger.  
Friya - Berserker beastmen. Traits: Anger, Emotion, Regeneration.  
Tigris - Were-tigers. Traits: Tiger Morph, Anger, Regeneration, Silver-Sensitive.  
Draco - Were-dragons. Traits: Dragon Morph, Regeneration, Silver-Sensitive, Might, Immortal.  
Pradi - Fire-dancers. Traits: Dance, Slow, Share.  
Flayru - Fire-rune casters. Traits: Rune.  
Pyros - Pyromancers. Traits: Speech, Gesture.

* * *

**Telana**

Telana's clan talent is Void Magic. This involves death, destruction, manipulation of time, necromancy, and other subject matters most of the other clans consider reprehensible. Their recessive traits often involve requiring blood, sacrifices, or stealing energy.

Karissis - Psychic vampires. Traits: Leech, Share.  
Danaren - Sexual vampires. Traits: Leech, Sex, Nudity.  
Nox - Vampires. Traits: Vampire, Sun-Sensitive, Reflectionless, Darkvision, Immortal.  
Seleni - Vampire moon-mages. Traits: Vampire, Sun-Sensitive, Moon, Darkvision, Immortal.  
Astrai - Vampire star-mages. Traits: Vampire, Sun-Sensitive, Star, Darkvision, Immortal.  
Haemar - Vampire blood-mages. Traits: Vampire, Sun-Sensitive, Blood, Regeneration, Darkvision, Immortal.  
Zot - Vampire bats. Traits: Bat Morph, Vampire, Sun-Sensitive, Darkvision, Regeneration, Silver-Sensitive.  
Carnis - Cannibals. Traits: Cannibal, Sacrifice, Regeneration.  
Riege - Blood-mages. Traits: Blood.  
Necros - Necromancers. Traits: Speech, Gesture.  
Malakim - Blood alchemists. Traits: Brew, Slow, Blood.

* * *

**Korata**

Korata's clan talent is Spirit Magic. Light, life, healing, protection, and defense are their bailiwick. Their recessive traits involve pacifism, requirement of sunlight, and self-imposed codes of honor.

Pax - Pacifist healers. Traits: Peace, Honor, Third Eye, Share, Vegan.  
Kyrie - Pacifist angels. Traits: Peace, Might, Vegan.  
Valeris - Knights. Traits: Honor, Share.  
Helios - Sun-mages. Traits: Sun, Channel.  
Lux - Light-mages. Traits: Glow, Third Eye, Visual, Darkvision.  
Seraph - Warrior angels. Traits: Glow, Honor, Regeneration.  
Leoni - Were-lions. Traits: Lion Morph, Silver-Sensitive, Regeneration.  
Photrix - Healer wizards. Traits: Speech, Gesture, Glow.  
Fidesta - More knights. Traits: Honor.

* * *

**Astakal**

Astakal's clan talent is Earth Magic. They are in touch with nature, capable of manipulating plants, rocks, earth, and flesh. Many of them are natural shapeshifters as well. Because they manipulate the flesh directly, they are more capable of healing physical wounds than the Korata, however they are not so good with disease and spiritual maladies.

Lupus - Werewolves. Traits: Wolf Morph, Silver-Sensitive, Regeneration.  
Verede - Peaceful druids. Traits: Calm, Peace, Share, Channel.  
Onaska - Druids. Traits: Calm, Share.  
Gaea - Tree-men. Traits: Calm, Slow, Immortal.  
Arboli - Leaf-dancers. Traits: Dance, Slow, Share.  
Terra - Geomancers. Traits: Speech, Gesture.  
Vitalis - Druids. Traits: Share.

* * *

**Glemarn**

Glemarn's clan talent is Water Magic. They are typically calm and passive, capable of manipulating water, blood, poisons, and other forms of liquids, making them almost as good at healing disease and poison as the Korata. Some of them have a tendancy to focus on gaining knowledge by any means necessary, without regard to morality.

Pensu - Meditative water-druids. Traits: Calm, Subtle.  
Hydrel - Water-druids. Traits: Calm, Slow, Share.  
Shisu - Water-dancers. Traits: Dance, Slow, Share.  
Delphi - Were-dolphins. Traits: Dolphin Morph, Silver-Sensitive, Regeneration.  
Aquen - Hydromancers. Traits: Speech, Gesture.  
Kratos - Warlocks. Rune, Gesture.

* * *

**Handene**

Handene's clan talent is Air Magic. They are flighty and curious, and can perform such feats as changing the weather, flying and levitating, telekinesis, etc.

Sidhe - Elves. Traits: Subtle, Inborn, Iron-Sensitive, Immortal.  
Zephyr - Wind-dancers. Traits: Dance, Slow, Share.  
Avis - Were-birds. Traits: Bird Morph, Silver-Sensitive, Regeneration.  
Ariel - Aeromancers. Traits: Speech, Gesture.  
Chelish - Alchemists. Traits: Brew, Slow, Sympathetic.

* * *

**Mevrasi**

Mevrasi's clan talent is Mind Magic. This includes telepathy, illusion, memory alteration, mind control, compulsion, and coercion. Because of this, they are often considered devious and manipulative.

Kanto - Spellsingers. Traits: Song, Slow, Share.  
Lilim - Seducers. Traits: Sex.  
Kitsune - Were-foxes. Traits: Fox Morph, Silver-Sensitive, Regeneration.  
Lexin - Rune-mages. Traits: Rune, Slow.  
Parlus - Speakers. Traits: Speech.  
Mektren - Technomancers. Traits: Tech, Slow.


	3. Guilds

Unlike the previous Clan system, children are not born into a Guild, and do not choose to join one until they reach the age of puberty when their magic begins to awaken. (For Inborn mages, exceptions can sometimes be made allowing a child to join at a younger age and receive special early training, although in these cases it is usually the parents who provide the child's early education.)

Each Guild is based around several common traits, although only one trait is actually required for membership for most guilds, and members may or may not have all, or any, of the other common traits. If a mage's particular talents encompass the abilities of multiple Guilds, they may choose which available Guild to join, or in some cases are allowed joint membership, although this is rare as many of the Guilds are very protective of their secrets.

* * *

**Alchemists**

Required Trait: Brew  
Common Additional Traits: Slow, Blood, Sympathetic, Share, Speech, Gesture

Alchemists are mages which specialize in performing their magic not through direct spells or effects, but through brewing potions that, when imbibed or spilled, will perform that type of effect itself.

* * *

**Berserkers**

Required Trait: Anger  
Common Additional Traits: Emotion

Members of the Berserker Guild are incapable of using their magic unless they are angry. As such, the magic they learn is typically of a more martial bent. Unlike many of the guilds, Berserkers are not very protective of their secrets, as they have few, being about the least subtle of the guilds in existence. They will frequently even train non-members in controlling their emotions.

* * *

**Dancers**

Required Trait: Dance  
Common Additional Traits: Gesture, Song, Slow, Share

Dancers are a Guild specializing in performing magic through dance and whole-body movements. As many of them are capable of utilizing their power together, they frequently form dance groups to combine their strength for more powerful spells.

* * *

**Druids**

Required Trait: Calm  
Common Additional Traits: Share, Peace, Channel

Druids are a powerful and often pacifistic Guild whose members have no restriction upon their use of magic beyond that they must be completely calm and focused when they use it. They are commonly capable of linking their magic and sharing their power with others of their sect in order to perform more powerful spells.

* * *

**Knights**

Required Trait: Honor  
Common Additional Traits: Peace, Third Eye, Glow, Share, Sun

Knights are bound by their own self-imposed sense of honor. Although untrained, the Honor trait will follow only a person's own mental restrictions and be flexible from person to person, Knights' indoctrination toward what is good and honorable and what is not will ensure that all members of the Knight Guild share similar codes of honor.

* * *

**Mechanics**

Required Trait: Tech  
Common Additional Traits: Slow, Calm, Share, Subtle

The Guild of Mechanics is made up of technomancers who perform their magic solely through the use of technology of varying sorts and levels. Whether it be through a spinning wheel that spins straw into gold, a hyper-intelligent computer, or a magical transporter that teleports people from one place to another, they are never complete without their gizmos and gadgets.

* * *

**Moon**

Required Trait: Moon  
Common Additional Traits: Vampire, Sun-Sensitive, Bat Morph, Third Eye, Darkvision

The Guild of the Moon is made up of selenomancers, or Moon Mages, who harness the power of moonlight to perform their magic. Secondary traits beyond that tend to vary widely.

* * *

**Nudists**

Common Traits: Nudity, Sex

The Nudists are an unusual Guild in that the Nudity trait not actually required to be a member. The only real requirement for joining the Nudists is a lack of clothing. While many mages who cannot cast spells while wearing clothing join the Nudists out of practicality, there are a number of members who lack that restriction who merely prefer going around "skyclad".

* * *

**Pacifists**

Required Trait: Peace  
Common Additional Traits: Vegan, Honor, Glow, Third Eye, Share, Touch, Sun

The Pacifists are a Guild whose members are magically restricted against using their powers to harm others. They take this restriction a step further and strive to never harm another being, directly or indirectly if they can help it, whether through use of their magic or not. They sometimes allow those who do not possess the Peace trait to join if they will swear to their philosophy as strictly as its other members.

* * *

**Runecasters**

Required Trait: Rune  
Common Additional Traits: Slow

The Runecasters are a Guild which specializes in performing magic through drawing runes in the air or marking them on a surface through carving, painting, writing, or tattooing. Members of this Guild frequently have several magical tattoos on their bodies.

* * *

**Shapeshifers**

Required Trait: Morph  
Common Additional Traits: Silver-Sensitive, Regeneration

Shapeshifters do not require any specific Morph trait, but rather any Morph regardless of type. Some members even have multiple Morph types. As such, since each Morph is a separate gene, breeding between members of different breeds will not breed true, and while it can result in multi-breed capable offspring, it often results merely in offspring who cannot shift themselves, but have a high chance of producing a child that can shift.

* * *

**Spellsingers**

Required Trait: Song  
Common Additional Traits: Slow, Share

Spellsingers produce magic through playing, performing, or singing music. Contrary to their name, not all members prefer to actually sing their spells. Since many of them are also capable of sharing their powers, they frequently form bands in order to perform their magical music to create more powerful effects.

* * *

**Star**

Required Trait: Star  
Common Additional Traits: Vampire, Sun-Sensitive, Bat Morph, Third Eye, Darkvision

The Guild of the Stars is made up of selenomancers, or Star Mages, who harness the power of starlight to perform their magic. Secondary traits beyond that tend to vary widely.

* * *

**Succubi**

Required Trait: Sex  
Common Additional Traits: Leech, Nudity

The Guild of Succubi (and Incubi, they aren't picky about gender) consists of mages who perform their magic through use of sexual contact or stimulation. Not all of them steal energy from their partner in the process, although this is a common misconception as a stereotype as many of them do, although leeches may also take in their energy requirement simply by walking through a town and taking a small, imperceptible amount from passersby.

* * *

**Sun**

Required Trait: Sun  
Common Additional Traits: Glow, Third Eye, Visual, Peace, Honor, Channel, Share

The Guild of the Sun is made up of heliomancers, or Sun Mages, who harness the power of sunlight to perform their magic. Secondary traits beyond that tend to vary widely.

* * *

**Unbound**

Required Trait: None

The Unbound are an unusual Guild in that they do not have a particular trait associated with them. On the contrary, they define their membership requirements as limited to those who do not have any restrictions whatsoever on how they use their magic, hence, they are Unbound by the limitations of other mages. They may have other traits which do not limit their use of magic directly, however.

* * *

**Vampires**

Required Trait: Vampire  
Common Additional Traits: Blood, Sun-Sensitive, Immortal, Darkvision, Regeneration, Bat Morph, Reflectionless

The Vampires traditionally define their Guild solely by the requirement of ingesting blood to survive, although the majority of their members express at least some of their other common traits. Sometimes they will allow those who possess many of the secondary traits to join who do not actually have the hemophagia requirement, but in those cases they must at least have the Blood and Sun-Sensitive traits preferably.

* * *

**Warlocks**

Required Trait: Gesture  
Common Additional Traits: Speech, Blood, Sympathetic

The Guild of Warlocks sometimes receives an unnecessarily negative connotation because of the ill-meaning preferences of some of their members. Although only hand gestures are required for their use of magic as a rule, some of them also require Speech or other components, giving them some overlap with Wizards and Witches. They do not, however, allow multi-Guild membership at all, being one of the most staunchly secretive of the Guilds.

* * *

**Witches**

Required Trait: Sympathetic  
Common Additional Traits: Gesture, Speech, Blood, Rune

Witches perform their magic by use of an object related to what they are attempting to do. For instances, were they to be attempting to hurl a fireball, they might require a lump of charcoal to cast it, or if they sought to fly, they might use a feather from a bird. As such, Witches typically carry around pouches containing a number of components for their spells, as well as carrying them on talismans, bracelets, and such about their bodies.

* * *

**Wizards**

Required Trait: Speech  
Common Additional Traits: Gesture

Wizards are traditional mages who chant arcane formulas, frequently accompanied by wild and complex hand-gestures, in order to perform their spells. Although their power limitation is not restricted to any particular language, the Wizard Guild has devised its own arcane tongue and composed specific spells with it, and teaches its apprentices to memorize them. While this has the effect of making it very easy for students to learn and use magic, it can also hinder their creativity and open-ended use of magic.


End file.
